CPD Course Speaker

Saffery

Victoria Baguley-Wood

Victoria is a Tax Director at Saffery. She is a private client tax specialist who advises HNW and UHNW individuals as well as their trustees and family offices. Having been called to the Bar in England and Wales in 2017, she worked as UK Tax Counsel for an international trust company and then a law firm, before joining Saffery and is able to draw upon these experiences when advising her clients. She studied her MSc in Taxation at the University of Oxford and is a qualified Chartered Tax Adviser. She is currently working towards her PhD in Tax Law at the University of Edinburgh.

SJCM Accountancy

Sam Mitcham

Samantha formed SJCM Accountancy in 2019 having spent over 13 years employed in practice.

As an AAT licensed accountant, she is now focusing on helping small business owners have a better understanding of their numbers, be ahead of compliance and perform at their best.

Samantha uses technology as much of that as the next ‘modern’ accountant, but also aims to bring back the personal touch to accountancy and really show her clients that she cares, not just about their finances but about them as people.

The VAT Guy

Jason Croke

Jason has over 20 years’ experience working exclusively in indirect taxes (VAT, import duty, SDLT) with owner-managed businesses, corporates and not for profit sectors. He particularly enjoys challenging HMRC decisions, representing clients in tribunals or during inspections.

His experience includes land and property, partial exemption and European VAT matters but equally happy with a VAT registration request too. Jason also advises on other indirect taxes such import duty and Stamp Duty Land Tax.

VAT and duty is a complicated subject, his main strength is being able to explain complex law in an easy-to-understand manner, enabling clients to understand what the problem is and crucially, what the solution is too.

It has often been said that he actually makes the subject of VAT sound interesting, but we will let you be the judge of that!

In his spare time, Jason likes cycling, regular (but not obsessive) trips to the gym, skiing in winter and hiking in the summer and is married with one teenage daughter.

Quantify.Tax

Simon Briton

Simon has 20 years' experience working with innovative companies and their advisers on R&D tax relief claims and the other tax incentives that support business growth.

As a tax-qualified lawyer, Simon handles R&D tax enquiries from a wide range of sources and has much more experience than most advisers in this space.

ATT

Helen Thornley

Helen is a technical officer with the Association of Taxation Technicians (ATT) where her role includes looking at the latest changes in tax policy and working with HMRC on developments and improvements to their systems and processes.

Helen’s background is in personal tax, and prior to joining the ATT she worked in the north of England advising family businesses and high net worth individuals. Helen writes for publications including Tax Adviser, AccountingWEB, Accountancy Age and Taxation magazine.

She has appeared on BBC Radio 4's Money Box Live and BBC Radio 5 Live's Wake up to Money in addition to many local radio stations and been quoted in the Financial Times, Times, Telegraph and Guardian. Helen is also a member of the CIOT, ICAEW and STEP (Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners).

Aspiring Training Limited

Alexandra Durrant

Alexandra Durrant is a chartered accountant and trainer. Until very recently she ran a practice in East Grinstead, providing audit, tax and accounting services to clients including payroll services and payroll/NIC advice. She is now focusing her time on training and consultancy through Aspiring Training Limited.

Alexandra has been involved in training since 1993 and regularly lectures to accounting practices and for training organisations. Her lectures cover payroll, national insurance and related employment issues as well as on benefits and expenses and forms P11D